back to article Petrol station robbers cuffed after running out of petrol

A couple of Pennsylvania master criminals who robbed a petrol station were cuffed after their getaway vehicle ran out of petrol a mile from the scene of the crime. According to AP, 29-year-old Lonnie Meckwood and 51-year-old Phillip Weeks hit the Quickway Convenience Store in Kirkwood, close to the New York-Pennsylvania border …

COMMENTS

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  1. Fractured Cell
    FAIL

    How long before

    These pair are nominated for a Darwin Award?:>

  2. Shane McCarrick
    IT Angle

    Whats the IT aspect?

    Apart from a common lack of sense with most of the cretins we have to support- is there an IT angle to this?

  3. Anonymous Coward
    FAIL

    Only one thing to say....

    Epic Fail

  4. Mark Monaghan
    Coffee/keyboard

    Pure genius

    One Mile? I assume the "idiot light" was on as their getaway car waited at the pumps.

    These guys could have had a long and lucrative career advising on governments IT projects.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    FAIL

    FAIL

    need i say any more

  6. Greg J Preece

    Hahaha

    Biggest laugh I've had all day. Nice one Lester.

  7. Yorkshirepudding
    FAIL

    merkins

    only in America

    and here as well probably

    a toast to our criminally minded yet just as stupid brethren

  8. Sarah Bee (Written by Reg staff)

    Re: Whats the IT aspect?

    You know, what worries me is that something unfortunate will happen to me and after I'm gone there will still be Reg commentards wanting to know what the IT angle is on a non-IT story. Listen to me. WE RUN NON-IT STORIES. WE DO IT ALL THE TIME. WE ALWAYS HAVE. WRITE IT DOWN 20 TIMES AND THEN FLUSH YOUR FACE IN THE TOILET.

    Can anyone help me out here? Do you think a hearty chorus of 'Sometimes there is no IT angle' might do it?

  9. Trevor Watt
    Grenade

    Re Sarah

    'Can anyone help me out here?'

    Yep, I will go flush his face down the toilet for you!

  10. Dave 85

    Re: Whats the IT aspect?

    Everyone who said "fail" - buy yourself a new phrase next time you're at the Lame Shop.

  11. daniel kingshott
    Flame

    @Sarah Bee

    What I don't think most techies understand is that as a group we are for the most part indicatively socially inept and el reg posts stories that it's readership will find amusing - we love to show how superior we are and scoff at others epic failures....

    I wonder how many of the commentards are actually over weight middle aged men wearing double breasted suits (see consultant)

  12. Kevin Johnston

    IT Angle

    You would have to really work hard these days to find a story which is amusing/interesting which doesn't at some point have an IT element.......Let's see now, if it is on El Reg then you are reading it on a computer...that do?

  13. Jolyon Ralph
    Terminator

    There might be a logical reason for this

    Although it's always amusing to laugh at the stupidity of others (which is why I read the comment threads here), there is a possible and plausible explanation for this sillyness - in the US you usually have pre-pay for your fuel before filling up, so filling up and then robbing the attendant wouldn't be an option. They'd have to pay, fill up, then rob the attendant to get their money back.

    Jolyon

  14. Peter Kay

    Not again. Stop whinging.

    Sometimes it's good to find some funny diversions to let us forget how shit hardware, software and companies are.

    I, for one, appreciate an ironic diversion of a story instead of the thought of a) outstanding work and b) that I'm going to have to spend a couple of hours tonight proving a motherboard failure after my main computer repeatedly failed to boot last night. Joy.. (to be fair, it's worked fine for months up until now, but it's still bloody annoying)

  15. adam payne
    Thumb Up

    Awesome!

    I love master criminals like these, their exploits already cheer me up.

  16. King Edward I
    Stop

    Sometime's there's no I.T angle song...

    Some things in life are bad,

    They can really make you mad,

    Other things just make you swear and curse,

    When you're chewing life's gristle,

    Don't grumble,

    Give a whistle

    And this'll help things turn out for the best.

    'cos...

    Sometimes there's just no Iiiiii-Teaangle

    [whistle]

    Sometimes there's just no Iiiiii-Teaangle.

    [whistle]

    etc.

    sure someone else can do better

  17. Seanie Ryan
    Happy

    IT angle

    Sarah, if its causing you such bother, I have to ask :

    Why do the Reg provide and icon for "wheres the IT angle?"

    Surely self defeating in trying to get the message out that ye run non-IT stories?

    You seem angry today... need a hug?

    Seanie

  18. alien anthropologist
    IT Angle

    The IT Angle is...

    .. getting IT dumbtards to respond to a non-IT story, asking where the IT angle is.

    Works. Every. Time.

  19. Mark Monaghan
    Go

    Re: Sarah

    'Can anyone help me out here?'

    Well actually two things come to mind:

    1) Alter the copy so that every sentence in the story begins with the phrase "Warning - No IT angle"

    2) Think BOFH and arrange that any commentards selecting "Where's the IT angle?" icon are taken to a page that draws their attention to the lack of an IT angle in the story.

    Selecting this icon would, of course, also add their name to a list of wanted terrorists and pass their current GPS location to a passing Predator drone.

    Can I help you out? Certainly, which way did you come in?

  20. Scott 19
    FAIL

    @Mrs Bee

    Don't take it personnally there all N00bs, am i spelling that right? or is it 1 zero?

  21. Mike Smith
    IT Angle

    There is an IT angle

    "Can anyone help me out here?"

    Whoa, easy tigress!

    There is an IT angle - obviously the meatware implementation failed to process the messages being sent from the user interface. Either the multiple redundancy features, consisting of warning light and fuel gauge suffered a simultaneous outage or the meatware unit's connection failed.

    There you go.

  22. daniel kingshott

    @shane

    are you the same idiot who fell for a 419 scam over a pentium 4 computer?

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/2308887.stm

    (see comments)

  23. Sarah Bee (Written by Reg staff)

    Re: @Sarah Bee

    I dunno, Daniel, maybe we should do a survey.

    Or I could just ask what everyone is wearing right now.

  24. Rod MacLean
    FAIL

    RE: Moderatrix Comments

    Miss Bee is quite right that there are always going to be idiots who question the IT angle.

    Here's a clue for them - if it says "Bootnotes" then there's a chance that it isn't an IT story.

    These idiots are probably the same kind of people that rob a petrol station and don't realise what the flashing light on the dashboard means until it's too late...

  25. Sarah Bee (Written by Reg staff)

    Re: @Mrs Bee

    1) I'm not taking it personally, I'm just weary of having to point out the incredibly obvious on a daily basis to people who probably make more money than me.

    2) It's Miss Bee to you, minion.

  26. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    @Sarah Bee, IT Aspect etc.

    Fair point, I agree with you, but ... aren't you kind of encouraging them by offering a "Where's the IT angle" icon?

    Anyway, do I get a prize for being the first Reg reader ever to ask for an icon to be removed?

  27. N2

    Re Sarah

    'Can anyone help me out here?' certainly can,

    It would be a great shame not to publish such gems as these, Darwin award or not - dont you have to die by some really foolish method for nomination? looking down the barrel of a gun for the sign that says 'trigger at other end' or something similar, anyway life would be dull without such amusing anecdotes sprinkled into El Reg

    Whilst the suggested remedy of flushing down the loo is a tad excessive, Im sure a Google or a Bing - if that way inclined, for 'sense of humour' may be all thats required.

  28. David 105
    Grenade

    @How long before

    when they permanently remove themselves from the gene pool, usually by killing themslves in a particularly stupid but entertaining fashion, and not before. Entertaining as this story is, it's not even remotely near a Darwin award story

  29. disgruntled yank

    umm

    Trust me, Ms. Bee, you don't want to ask a bunch of (mostly male) techies what they are wearing right now.

    And yes, I am middle aged; my wife hints that I'm overweight (I haven't sprung L. Page's arguments about BMI on her); but No, I'm not wearing a double-breasted suit.. (In the states this is a virtual Friday.)

  30. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Down

    @ Mistress Bee

    Oh-oh! Methinks Sarah may have shot herself in the foot there stating she's *Miss* Bee, and therefore letting them all know she's not married (yet!)... ;-)

  31. Peter Kay

    'no IT angle icon'

    Of course what happens when the 'no IT angle' icon is selected is that the user's posted message text is replaced by 'I am a moron. Sometimes these articles are for fun' and the icon morphs into a dunce hat.

    From personal experience, there's not a large difference in having to point out the incredibly obvious to people on more or less money than you, especially when the error message is in 72 point flashing pink and yet they still fail to notice.

    I am not thick and do not wish to melt, so am wearing shorts and a t shirt. Neither am I middle aged or overweight although someone had the cheek to suggest my most recent birthday was 'middle aged'. Given that the life expectancy will probably raise to 90 or so soon, I'm not admitting to middle age until I hit forty and beyond.

  32. Mike Smith
    Thumb Up

    @@ Mistress Bee

    Nah - it;s just that she's running low on chocolates and her last batch of flowers is wilting.

  33. Bassey
    Thumb Down

    Re: @ Sarah Bee

    "What I don't think most techies understand is that as a group we are for the most part indicatively socially inept and .....are actually over weight middle aged men wearing double breasted suits"

    How DARE you accuse me of wearing a double-breasted suit? I save that for weddings/funerals etc.

    PS You forgot bald.

  34. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    @Ms. Bee

    > It's Miss Bee to you,

    Too easy.

    Ain't Miss Bee Having.

    Probably should have passed.

  35. Daniel 4
    IT Angle

    @Sarah Bee

    Really, I think there's only 1 solution to this: When people sign up for an account here in the forums, there should be a giant 20 pt. warning that sometimes there are non-IT stories. Should they post a complaint anyway, wipe their account and ban their email address from creating a new one.

    All that leaves are the people who have created an account already but haven't quite got the message, and I think a small grace period - say 6 months - during which they are allowed one - and no more than one - violation should suffice. After that, problem solved.

    -d

  36. Jeffrey Nonken
    Flame

    @"Only in America"

    Well, at least there was only one smug racist this time.

  37. Charles Manning

    Rather obvvious how this all happened.....

    Scene: Perp 1 and Perp 2 are driving along...

    Perp 1 (passenger) :"We need some money. We need to rob somebody. I wonder who?"

    Perp 2(driver): "Let me think a bit...".

    [Little yellow petrol pump lights up on dash]

    Perp 2: "Hey! A little gas pump just lit up on the dash."

    Perp 1: "It must be a message from God. We need to rob a gas station!."

    ...

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